Thriller 101

Meet a Storyteller's Society Cohort #1 Member: Timothy Hedden

• David • Season 2

Share episode

Timothy Hedden

David Gwyn: [00:00:00] So this will be the last podcast before those storytellers society opens. I had one planned for tomorrow for the kind of final day, with just me talking about the community, but. There are only two spots left in the storyteller society. 

And that means they will probably be closed at some point today. It might limp into Friday with like a spot open. , but there are a few people who've been reaching out who are interested and have asked me a few questions and I followed up with, so we'll see. You can check the sign up page. If it's open, you can grab a spot, but if there's nothing there, then cohort number one is filled and you'll have to wait for cohort. 

Number two.

Which won't open for a few months. Yesterday, I talked to Stacy Frazer about why she joined the storyteller society. 

Stacy Frazer: you hear it all the time.

find a community of writers. A writing community is the bright spot in, in a writer's life. And it's true, but it's hard to do. And honestly, like, I think it's even harder when you do have, you know, when, when you are a person who. has some wherewithal and knows what they're doing. It's hard to find people that are [00:01:00] writing in your genre that are writing at your level, or maybe a little bit above it and the accessibility to that to get eyes on your work and to, to improve.

David Gwyn: That episode is linked in the description. If you want to check that out today, I want to introduce you to another member of cohort. Number one. So I'm talking to Timothy Hedden. 

 He has been great throughout this entire process. He's given me feedback on early ideas for this community and has been instrumental in bringing everything together. He's also one of the most committed, aspiring authors. I know. He's got a great background and has had some success writing articles like a recent one for the Huffington post, which I've actually shared in the newsletter a few weeks ago. 

And we'll talk about briefly in this episode. He's going to talk about what he's looking forward to in the writing community. , so let's get right into it. 

Timothy Hedden: I just want the accountability. I want to be able to check in. Of course I want the, you know, of course I want the pitch meetings with agents where I can pitch my, my second book and see what happens. But I need beta readers. And it's like, I don't even know where to find them.

Everyone's like, go on Twitter [00:02:00] and find them. But I mean, being in a writing group for three years while I was writing the first book was really such a great tool. And it, and the people I was with, it was one of the best writing groups I've ever been a part of.

As I think I've told you, I've had to leave a couple. And this was, they were just, it was just a gift and we all sort of know it and we still talk, we know we're still friendly, but I want people to read the stuff and give feedback, but you know, again, I want people who are sort of in the same, on the same level as me.

Not that I'm so lofty and, you know, I'm still unpublished, but No, but you're committed. I mean, that's the thing. I've, it, you know, I want people who have written a novel or, you know, have worked on it really hard. I as you know, I just had an article published on Huffington Post about the tattered state of reality TV, because I used to edit reality TV, and I will probably have to that.

And it was so well received, it went viral in the television community. I don't know how, I mean, you're a non television person. What did you think when you read it? 

David Gwyn: So interesting. I loved it. I, I thought, I mean, I, I, you know, I sent it out to the thriller 1 0 1 [00:03:00] group because I thought it was like, yeah, no, 

Timothy Hedden: thank, I appreciate that.

David Gwyn: Yeah. But I, I thought it was so cool. And I, I think it was, it felt very much like what we go through as writers and I'm not surprised at all that, that people really reacted strongly to it, especially because of the popularity of, of reality television kind of historically and, and in the last couple decades.

So I think it was really well done, first of all, and then second, like, 

Timothy Hedden: Yeah. So the editor at Huffington Post, you know, I, we had a very long zoom conversation and, you know, I edited one of her favorite Housewives of Atlanta shows. So her and I like became quick best friends. You know, I edited a very famous Housewives episode, the Gone with the Wind fabulous episode.

If anybody watches Atlanta, they will know exactly what that is. So that's my only claim to fame that I edited that. So this editor loved that. I love that. And we, you know, we got to talking and so I started dishing, like spilling all the dirt about how reality TV is made. And, you know, all the stuff that I, all the crap that I've witnessed and all the stuff I've seen.

And she's like, that's the [00:04:00] article I want. And I was like, I can't write that until I see it. to sell a book because I will never be able to work again. And so that's what the second book is about. The second book is pulling the curtain back on how reality TV is made.

How abusive everybody is, how abused the people are, how manipulated everybody is. And like I said, I've done some really horrible things on other shows, not housewife shows, but on other shows that I'm not proud of. But you know, you're in the middle of it and you do it. So I'm telling all of that stuff in this second book.

So that's why I need to make sure that I get this, a paycheck from it, because I won't be able to go back to my chosen, my career of editing reality TV or even producing it, you know, so That's what I'm, I'm hoping that will entice, you know, the publishing world that there is, you know, some behind the scenes dirt 

David Gwyn: well, I, I want to, I want to go back a little bit and talk about like the, the things that you're looking for, because I think, and I, you know, I think that there's a reason that you're drawn to this type of [00:05:00] community and this, this type of group. And it's one that, and I've, I'm hearing it from people, which is the seriousness of the work.

Right. And like, I think you're, you're all in maybe more, more than most in terms of where you're headed with, with this book. I think that that is what I really want from this community. And what I think people are attracted to is we are not the casual write every other Sunday writer. There's nothing wrong with that.

If that's your thing, I love that. I think that that's really cool. I think writing is a beautiful expression. But if you're committed to getting published, that's a different, that's a full different feeling. And I think that to go back to a little bit of what you said there, which is, I think that that's what this group is a trap.

I'm hoping that's what this group is attracting in the people that I've talked to already, who are, who have, have joined in our, Part of this, that's what they're interested in. They want that kind of like seriousness, that craft and community. And they, they see it as, as being really important. And I think publishing is a weird thing where like [00:06:00] connections and craft and like just nose to the grindstone and luck, all of these things combine 

and so I think it's the right time for this with the way that. Twitter is going as well on social media in general, like I think it's the right time for that And so I'd love to just hear a little bit more about like, What do you envision as like the, the ideal version of this, of this community?

 If you were, if you could walk in tomorrow into this community and , have everything that you wanted there. , what does that look like to you? 

Timothy Hedden: People who are serious minded. And I just want to say not to correct you, but when I was, when I wrote my first book, I worked 50 hours a week making fake TV for people and it was soul crushing.

So I wrote every Saturday. I mean, but I, but I was in the same headspace that I'm in now. Like I. I'm so hungry for this to happen, and I looked forward to my Saturday writing, but it was really the only time I could do it. I needed Sunday to decompress, and I worked a very stressful job during the week, so I couldn't wrap my head around it.

Because you know [00:07:00] how it is, you sit down to write, and three hours go by, 

David Gwyn: I think that's a really good point, like the, the mindset piece is so important when it comes to writing, like you can't be stressed about your daily life and then sit down and write.

Like it's really hard. It takes a long time to dissociate. And so if you're working a stressful job like that, that takes a toll on the creative part of your life. Right. 

Okay. Let's pause there for a second because Timothy rightfully corrects me here. Seriousness is not about time. It's about effort. And if you're a writer who's committed to craft and getting published, but can only devote a certain amount of time to writing each week. There's nothing wrong with that. 

I have two kids and a full-time job days go by where I get bogged down would be editing a podcast or developing a community platform like the storytellers society. And I just can't get into my manuscript. And there's nothing wrong with that. Seriousness about writing. Doesn't have a stopwatch. And the next part of the interview, he shares what he's doing to develop his writing platform. 

So let's get right back into it.

Timothy Hedden: And a lot of people kept saying to me like, Oh, editing sounds like it's so [00:08:00] creative and it's really not. I mean, I could, I won't go into it why it's not, but it's not.

And So I was really serious about writing that book. And I, after four years, I finished it four years of every Saturday without sale every Saturday. And so I've been committed all along, and I just want to be with a group of people who are as committed. I don't care if you write, you know, every other week, but like, you have to be hungry for it to happen.

Look, people have children, people have lives, people have jobs. Some people have two jobs. I get it. But it's like, this has to be something that you want to do. I want to leave a mark on the world. 

David Gwyn: Yeah. That's cool. So, so let's go back and talk just, just really briefly. I'd love to hear your kind of vision of the, the group as you would like to see it.

Timothy Hedden: I want this to be, you know, I want it to be serious for everybody. That's it. I mean, everything else is just sort of gravy, because, as you know, , I'm trying to build my social media every day by doing something called writing my own reality, which is basically just me telling [00:09:00] everybody what I'm going to do today to further my writing career.

So it's literally like, it's just like today I'm, you know, I, Monday I query. So I call it query Monday with jazz heads. And you know, I, every Monday I say that I'm going to query and I say what I'm going to do. And, you know so that's it. I just do it to keep myself on track. I needed it to keep myself accountable.

There's never too much of it, you know, keeping yourself accountable and making sure that you're moving in the right direction. I was working on a, on a long term aid survivor article that literally killed me, pardon the pun but I'm so glad that it's done because, and I, I've submitted it to a couple of magazines and other publications, so if it gets published, it gets published.

I just needed to finish it for my own personal Comfort knowing that I could do it. And so now I'm just literally focusing on the second book. So that's all I want to do is write this book. I'd love to have it done. I'm 18 chapters in, I'd love to have the whole thing done by January. I don't know if that's a lofty goal, but being a part of the Storyteller Society is really going to [00:10:00] help me achieve my goal.

You know, it'll get me a lot further. 

David Gwyn: Yeah, that's the goal, . So this is great. I really appreciate it. I am looking forward to digging in with you and getting into it. 

Okay, so that's it. So, like I said, in the opening, If you're interested in joining the storyteller society, don't wait until tomorrow. Because there might not be spots available. Next week we'll return to our normal episodes. 

So I'm looking forward to getting back into that routine for some of you I'll see you in the storyteller society for the rest of you. I will see you next week. 

And I'm really looking forward to sharing some of the episodes the recorded already with authors. 

So, yeah, I'll see you then.